Mark Beyer

With the future of Western Australia's next power station at the crossroads, Mark Beyer examines some of the alternatives.

The Dobson family and investment manager Rewards Group are relatively new to the Ord River irrigation area but together they are well on the way to having a big impact.

Perth technology company Structural Monitoring Systems has rejigged its listing plans, opting for a $3.75 million capital raising and listing on the Australian Stock Exchange.

Sugar miller keen to grow 

An unlimited supply of cheap water has long been touted as one of the great attractions of the Ord River project, but the reality is not so simple.

SMCR directors fail in appeal 

The State Government is hoping a report due this month will help to kick start much-needed expansion of the Ord River project. Mark Beyer reports.

Cotton comeback?

A chapter in Western Australia’s industrial history is drawing to a close with the sale of KAEFER Technologies, formerly Bains Harding, nearing completion.

RICHARD Norton and Chris Smailes are just a few weeks away from celebrating the 10th anniversary of their boutique law firm Nortorn & Smailes.

FOR the second year running, Perth’s corporate lawyers provided a closely run contest in WA Business News’ Legal Elite survey.

SETTING up a new law firm has clearly done nothing to dent the professional standing of Lee Christensen, who has been ranked the State’s top insolvency lawyer for the second year running.

PEET & Co’s sharemarket float is being marketed at a time when demand for new stocks has waned.

TREVOR O’Sullivan’s love of the law started at an early age.

Peet & Co is heading towards an Australian Stock Exchange float with a $100 million raising.

APART from the Legal Elite scattered across these pages, WA Business News would like to acknowledge another winner.

THROUGHOUT his career Wayne Martin has had the knack of being in the right place at the right time, and this year he positioned himself perfectly to win the barristers’ section in the WA Business News Legal Elite.

TONY van Merwyk is passionate about his work.

COMMERCIAL litigation is a term falling out of favour with many lawyers, who prefer the more diplomatic term ‘dispute resolution’.

THE past 12 months has been a busy and interesting period for Hunt & Humphry partner Michael Hunt, who has been ranked by his peers as the top mining lawyer in Western Australia for the second year in a row.

PEET & Company Limited was founded in 1895, by James Peet, and incorporated in 1905, making it one of Western Australia’s oldest companies.

A RUNNER-UP in last year’s WA Business News Legal Elite survey, Mallesons Stephen Jaques partner John Naughton has gone one better in 2004, ranking as the top banking and finance lawyer in Perth.

FFI adds Olympic Foods to holdings

THE formation of a coalition between the Liberal and National parties has given voters their first opportunity to assess the likely shape of a future coalition ministry.

THE takeover manoeuvres around Burswood have raised expectations that Publishing and Broadcasting Limited will be forced to lift its initial offer of $1.40 per share.

NANOTECHNOLOGY company pSivida has simplified its corporate structure by acquiring 100 per cent of its UK operating subsidiary, pSiMedica.

MINING entrepreneur Tony Brennan is backing a new sharemarket float with a twist, offering investors exposure to oil and gas prospects in the US State of Oklahoma.

LOCAL fleet management firm Easifleet and national operator Commonwealth Fleet Lease are the big winners from new fleet management contracts announced by the State Government.

SURPRISINGLY, Perth is home to not one but three Australian Stock Exchange-listed companies developing animal health products to replace the use of antibiotics.

CHEMEQ is expected to ask shareholders for another capital injection this year after being squeezed by rapidly rising costs and delayed sales.

The past year has been a tough stretch for Chemeq shareholders, but executive chairman Graham Melrose is adamant the company is on the right track. Mark Beyer reports.

STIRLING Products is the latest Perth company to enter the animal health market, but so far it is better known for boardroom turmoil than any scientific and commercial achievements.